What Is Search Engine
Optimization?
SEO is the process of getting targeted traffic to a website through organic or unpaid search engine results. Technically, it is what one uses to increase website visibility through different tools without paying for it. SEO targets different kinds of searches including image search, news search, video search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
Why Do You Need SEO?
Imagine your website appearing on the first page of a Google search. People click through and end up on your website – which is your first step to sales. Once they’re on your page, it’s up to you – the website owner – on how you choose to keep them there. This is done by having very relevant and up-to-date content on the site.
When you create engaging and effective SEO-friendly content, you increase your chances of bringing in your target demographic to your site. So the purpose of SEO optimisation is basically to improve your site’s rankings and convert those rankings into customers and leads, which means more sales, more loyal customers, and business growth.
And here’s the thing: you can localize SEO! So if you stay in a county like Sussex SEO can help you gain recognition through rankings for top businesses like yours in the county.
How You Can Improve Your Website Rankings
Follow these 5 tips to improve your SEO, and watch your website rank high on search engine results:
Publish relevant and quality content. The content should be created specifically for the intended user to increase the site’s traffic, which ultimately improves the site’s relevance and authority.
Update your content regularly. Audit and update content regularly. Regular content is one of the best indicators of a site’s relevancy, so keep it fresh.
Have a link-worthy site. Instead of having ‘click-here’ (click-here has no search engine value) links, try writing out the name of the link.
Optimise Metadata – title, description, and keywords. ‘Title Metadata’ is responsible for the page titles at the top of the browser window. ‘Description Metadata’ is the textual description that a browser may use as your page-search return. A good Meta Description contains two full sentences. ‘Keyword Metadata’ is sometimes used to tabulate search engine rankings. The general rule is to keep it to about 3-7 phrases, with each phrase consisting of 1-4 words. A good example would be ‘computer science degree’.
Use Alternative Tag Descriptions aka alt tags. Describe your visuals (image and videos) using alt tags as they allow search engines to locate your page.
Local SEO (How To Rank Your Website In Local Listings)
We all struggle with the local competitors of our businesses. Going up against companies that have auto-generated local listings or businesses and have been in the SEO game for years is tough.
If you’re staying in Surrey, then SEO Surrey style is what you need. For London, it’s SEO London all the way. This means you need to focus your SEO based on where your business is. By focusing on these small tips, you can be a game-changer:
Claim your business listings and add location pages to your website. Add your correct business information to Google, maps, search, and other Google properties under My Google Business. Having a business in Reigate means going all in for SEO Reigate. Ensure the information is up-to-date and similar across all other platforms.
Get reviews. It is one of the best local SEO tactics. If you can entice your satisfied local customers to leave a Google review as a thank you for the positive experience, you can go much further.
Check your NAP consistency. That means your business name, address, and phone number need to be consistent everywhere.
Acquire backlinks from partners and sponsorships. If you have been involved with any other business, ask them to include a link back to your website.
Create local content, establish your local SEO keywords and utilise Social Media Channels. So whether it’s SEO Sussex or SEO London, it’s bound to work for you if you cross your t’s and dot your i’s
International SEO – Ways To Optimise Your Multilingual Website
International SEO comes into the process when you know that a good share of your website visitors come from different countries than where you are located, speak different languages, or both. International SEO is all about optimising your website so that search engines can identify which countries you want to target and which languages you want to use for your business.
Raw materials used for international SEO:
- International friendly URL structure
- Language tags
- Creating content in those languages
The following are considered to be the best practices for International SEO:
URL Structures – Webmasters can employ a few URL structures to target a particular country with their websites. Using a country top-level domain (ccTLD), a subdomain, a subdirectory, a gTLD with language parameters, or even using an entirely different domain name.
Language Target – Showing search engines the local language, and language Meta tags. For example, for a multilingual website, the link provided in the French language would tell Google that an alternate version of the content is available in French.
Tailored Content – By using local language, currency, and time zone with local contact information, addresses, and phone numbers, you are sending users and search engines to the right spot. Consider cultural differences when you create design and content.
Localising – The other things to show search engines that your site targets a specific country are: hosting your site on a local IP, linking to local content, building links from local resources, finding ways to rank on local (country-specific) search engines.
SEO is something your website needs to concentrate on right now and in the future as well. So if you are only starting to focus on SEO now, it’s not too late!
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